I'm pleased that you got through to at least one correct email address.
Hopefully if the branch have been in touch it's good news and fingers crossed that the complaints team get in touch early next week. You're right to keep a note of your expenses, I would claim all those too.
HB

It was from debbie.crosbie@tsb.co.uk, so thx to you for the idea HB, a reply within 24hrs from that address. It'll be Tuesday at the earliest now I think, also the Branch called Yesterday to request proof of ownership for a further 4 transactions made since the disputed transaction. I have the info to prove, but it's a massive headache trawling back through trading history to locate, print out, & notate these so they can make sense of them.
All the time & materials I'm spending doing this are being noted, & form a compensation claim for loss of earnings, as part of the complaint, & I will make the exec complaints team fully aware that I expect to be recompensed for this.

The company did finally respond and the subby fixed the hot water system, which turned out to be a fault with my immersion heater that was only six months old. The installer of the immersion claims he has lost his license, so I am screwed again. Consumer protecting in the UK is a joke. The website that supported this rogue trader is investigating. We still expect the Solar Panel company to deliberately go bust to invalidate warranties,, unless the FIT grant is restarted in some form.

Picked By

I was contacted by future comms by phone, they stated that they could beat any phone contract I have , (I am a limited company but just myself that needs a business phone and I am the only worker)
I told future comms my deal, £110 per month with a phone and a virtual landline, they confirmed that they could beat that, £90 per month with a phone , virtual landline they also confirmed they would pay Vodafone (previous provider) the termination fee. As I am in business, naturally I was open to making a deal. So we proceeded.
Future comms then revealed that the contract would be with PLAN.COM and the airtime would be provided by 02, I instantly told them that this would break the deal as I have poor 02 signal in the house where I live as my partner is on 02 and constantly complaining about bad signal
the salesman assured me he would send a signal booster box out with the phone so I would have perfect signal.
so far so good.....
i then explained this is the only mobile phone I use for business and pleasure, so therefore I didn’t want any disconnection time in the slightest between the switchover from Vodafone to 02
the salesman then confirmed that the existing phone would only be disconnected once the new phone was switched on.
so far so good....

The FSA has announced large fines against DB UK Bank Limited (trading as DB Mortgages) - DeutscheBank and also against Redstone for their unfair treatment of their customers.
Please see the links below for summaries and full details from the FSA website.
It is now completely clear that any arrears charges which exceed actual administrative costs are unfair and therefore unlawful.
Furthemore, irresponsible lending practices are also unfair and unlawful.
Additionally there are other unfair practices including unarranged counsellor visits - even if they have been attempted.
You are entitled to refuse counsellor visits and not incur any charges.
Any charges for counsellor visits must not seek to make profits. The cost of the visits must be passed on to you at cost price.
We are hearing stories of people being charged for counsellor visits for which there is no evidence that they were even attempted.
It is clear that some mortgage lenders are trying to cheat you out of your money.
You should ascertain how much has been taken from you and claim it back. The chances of winning are better than 90%. It is highly likely that the lender will attempt to avoid court action and offer you back your money.
However, you should ensure that you receive a proper rate of interest and this means that you should be seeking at least restitutionary damages - which would be much higher than the statutory 8%.
Furthermore, you should assess whether the paying of demands for unlawful excessive charges has also out you further into arrears and if this has caused you further penalties in terms of extra interest or any other prejudice. This should be claimed as well.
If excessive unlawful charges have resulted in your credit file being affected, then you should take this into account also when working out exactly what you want by way of remedy from the lender.
You should consult others on these forums when considering any offer.
You must not make any complaint through the Ombudsman. your time will be wasted, you will wait up to 2 yrs and there will be a minimal 8% award of interest and no account will be taken of any other damage you have suffered.
You must make your complaint through the County Court for a rapid and effective remedy.

Recommended Posts

I'm with Santander bank, have been for many years and had no problems.

I've had several loans with them over the years,

never defaulted,

always paid them off in time.

I took out a loan with them in 2015 for £6300.

Monthly repayments of £139.90.

Then 14 mths months ago, as many people were, I was called in for a face-to- face 'assessment' with ATOS re my PIP (been on high rate DLA for both Care and Mobility since 2003, changed to PIP in 2013 without any assessment).

My payments were downgraded to 'Basic' for both Mobility and Care. I therefore lost £250 per month.

Since then I have struggled financially and been having to use my overdraft to LIVE.

For over a year now, every month, I am getting to the top of my overdraft limit £1,400), never have enough money going in to pay it all off and am getting charged every month £31 for using it (£1 per day).

Charges which have now totalled £434, which I can ill afford.

I rang the loan dept at the bank to request that I pay my loan back at a lower rate each month.

Spent 45 mins on the phone listing my incomings and outgoings to be told at the end of it that he didn't think there was any point passing me on to the their Debt help dept to lower the loan repayments as it looked (on paper) that I have X amount of 'disposable income' each month !.

I pointed out that I have NO disposable income because I have been living on Santander's money-(the overdraft) for over a year, the overdraft which he could clearly see I have been 'stuck in' and cannot pay off and which they are still charging fees for every month. He said there was nothing he could do to help me.

the call was a waste of time.

Since then, I read on this forum about the fact that Banks shouldn't be taking charges from people's benefit money.

I am on PIP, ESA and have a smallish Occupational Pension from my previously employer.

My question : would the no charging of fees still be applicable in my case as I'm not soley on benefits with having the Occ Pension too ?. Would it be worth me asking for a suspension of the charges?.

Next question :

I am considering making an appointment and going into the bank to discuss these financial problems and ask can they add the overdraft I owe (£1,400) onto my existing loan and allow me to alter the repayments to a lower manageable rate. I would obviously take a list of my Incomings and Outgoings to the appointment. Last question, if the bank agreed to this, would it affect my Credit record which is good ?.

Has anyone on here been able to do the above successfully ?.

Thanks in advance to anyone who can assist and I'd like to say what an excellent forum this is, I've had some great advice previously and wish I had the funds to make a small donation (which I obviously haven't !).

Link to post

Share on other sites

Hi dx100uk. I'd thought of opening a bank account elsewhere but wouldn't the new bank want to check whether I had debts with the old bank before accepting me?.

Also,

although with a new bank I could have the loan repayments transferred each month to Santander, it wouldn't solve the problem of the fact that I owe them a £1,400 overdraft, which they would obviously chase me for.

I've tried my best to not go down the route of ending up with a bad credit rating, as it's been good for 25 years.

It would affect me for things in the future, eg, I pay my car insurance monthly as I've not been able to pay it in a lump sum each year. So dunno what the answer is at the moment !.

Share this post

Link to post

Share on other sites

Hi again dx100uk. After reading up on the ramifications of going down the 'Bank please help me and lower my payments' route and the future problems this could cause for me, I've been on Martin Lewis 's debt advice site.

Just spent several hours on there and other sites, reading up on stuff (head's spinning) .

On Martin's site there are lists of other banks and organisations which do loans at MUCH better, lower interest rates and lower monthly repayments than my current one. It also gives your percentage chances of getting a loan, plus all of the APR's and terms.

I've therefore applied and should have an answer by tomorrow. I've applied for a more favourable loan at a far lower monthly rate I can manage, plus minimal interest (Sainsbury's Bank) and if successful, I'm going to pay off in full my current Santander loan PLUS the overdraft I owe. I'm then going to change to a different bank.

This will avoid the problem I didn't want to have in the future by NOT-buggerering (excuse the term) up my credit rating. Will get back to you when I hear about the loan. Cheers.

PS. With Sainsbury's you do not have to be in employment to secure a loan as long as your Income is above a certain amount.

Edited October 17, 2017 by Vixen7

Share this post

Link to post

Share on other sites

UPDATE. Got the loan, will be in my bank in 4 days. Will then pay off the overdraft and the Santander loan . And will have a new loan at a much lower monthly rate and at less than a quarter of the interest Santander charge !. I will then be changing banks.

For anyone's information, First Direct do a standard account with an authorised overdraft of up to £250 with NO CHARGE for using it !.